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Meet the PCCA Board of Directors

PCCA is a grower-owned cooperative. Being such, it is governed by a board of directors. Members from each of PCCA’s 11 districts elect a representative to serve on the board. Do you know the individuals who are making decisions for your company? Learn more about who they are and why they serve.

Eddie Smith PortraitEddie Smith – Chairman

Floydada, Texas – District 4

Fourth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 28 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: I get the benefit of getting a good price for my crops as I harvest them. I market my cotton through PCCA’s pool, and we get a good average price year after year.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: Harvest. I enjoy the harvest the most because that is the fruit of all the efforts we have put into it. It is one of those things that you look forward to.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I feel like it is an honor to give back to the industry and also to the organization. It allows me to do the things that I like to do and farm.

 

Lexie FennellLexie Fennell – Vice Chairman

Springlake, Texas – District 3

Fifth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 12 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: With PCCA, there are numerous ways we can market our cotton, whether it be the pool or The Seam, or contracts, but in my mind the most important benefit is the check is always good. In today’s world, that is very important.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: I don’t know if it would actually be about the farm, but it is the farming lifestyle that I like. It is the perfect place to raise a family, and you can work together, play together, and you go through the hard times and the good times together. It just really builds a bond, and to me, that is not replaceable.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I think the board of directors plays a critical role in the health and continued success of PCCA. The directors represent the coops’ grower-owners and are responsible for the overall governance of the cooperative. I think the primary role, though, is to develop vision and the long-term strategic plan of the organization so the management team knows the direction they need to be taking things.

 

Robert RobbinsRobert Robbins

Altus, Oklahoma – District 1

Fourth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 9 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: I find out what is going on in the cotton industry in the United States and the world.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: Just trying to be the best farmer I can be. It is a real thrill to produce exceptional crops like we did in 2005 and this year.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I feel like somebody needs to represent Oklahoma and be involved and be able to pass the word on back to the farmers here and make them feel a part of PCCA.

 

Mark TrueMark True

Plainview, Texas – District 2

Fourth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 2 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: The single most important benefit I get from PCCA is having an organization that has an orderly marketing process that allows me to be able to capitalize on moves in the market without me having to follow the market on a daily basis. Thus, I am able to commit my time and efforts to other things that are pressing on the farm and know that my marketing is not suffering as a result of that.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: My favorite part of farming is planting a crop and watching it break the ground. It seems as though we get in these years where we have problems that develop during the season and we find ourselves wishing for the end of the crop. Just as we begin to think about the negative aspects and try to overcome those, we have a new crop come up and that is symbolic of a new beginning. It brings us newfound optimism.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: For me, it is a very easy decision since my father served on the PCCA board. I know that it is important for all of the members to have representation and that this is an international business. As such, it is very important for there to be direction from the individual owners, such as myself, which is one of the things I love about a cooperative—the fact that I am an owner of the business. It is always good to attend board meetings and gain insight to things that are going on in the industry and as PCCA tries to position itself to capitalize on any opportunity.

 

Charles MachaCharles Macha

Levelland, Texas – District 5

Fourth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 28 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: The main advantage is the marketing of our cotton. The return we get from being in the pool and the marketing of it.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: It’s just a way of life. Really, what I enjoy the most is harvest and running a cotton stripper in the fall.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: You learn the work of the marketing association. When you learn that, you understand what they do and go through then you can inform your fellow grower-owners about what you have learned and let them know what is going on at PCCA.

 

Dean VardemanDean Vardeman

Lubbock, Texas – District 6
Third Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 9 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: I feel like the number one benefit of PCCA is the complete service that is offered from the coop. It involves marketing to give me better opportunities with a group than it would be individually. Also, you have the relationships with the gins, the Member Access, the ginning system; all of that being intertwined I think is a much larger and more beneficial package compared to any other system offered out there.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: One of my most favorite aspects of farming is starting each year with the natural resources and everything that mother nature has provided and being able to use a renewable resource that is very valuable and beneficial to the rest of the economy or to all of the people that are here on this earth. It helps provide food and fiber and a resource they can use to benefit their lives.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Well, I feel like it has been a real benefit to me to be able to serve. I think anyone that serves gains a much greater perspective of the sheer scope and size of this organization and all of the things that are involved in handling the cotton crop for the grower-owners of this organization. I think it is just a real benefit to be able to serve your fellow patrons and to be directly involved in that process. It has broadened my perspective of the real talent and abilities that are in place in all aspects of PCCA and the very fine job that is being done there by all the employees.

 

Dahlen HancockDahlen Hancock

New Home, Texas – District 7

Fifth Generation Farming Family

Elected September 2016 to PCCA Board

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: I think the single most important benefit I get from PCCA is that I am part of a network and a team of experts that market our cotton. Whenever our cotton is processed at the gin and winds up going to the compress and on down the supply chain, I don’t really have to worry about it. There is a team of professionals that are taking care of that crop.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: I think the most important thing for me right now is getting to participate with my boys and getting to see that farming legacy continue. I really like that. I love watching the crop grow, and that has always been something that I enjoy. Even during challenging times, it is still part of who you are.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I think it is important to serve on PCCA’s Board and other boards because you want to be part of the process from the field until it winds up in a mill somewhere. If you aren’t participating, then you have no say in it, and you aren’t part of the checks and balances. I like being part of that process, part of helping to make sure that there is accountability and that my side, the producer side, is represented in the process.

 

Larry Williams pcca board of directorsLarry Williams

Roscoe, Texas – District 8

Sixth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 11 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: I think the main benefit I have received over the years has been the pool. It gives us a good high average price year- in and year-out. You have the comfort of knowing when you get your check that it is going to be good. We have situations where we have sold cotton to other folks and they declared bankruptcy. That is no fun. The surety of selling at a good price and knowing you are going to get your money is probably the one thing that is most important to us.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: I guess my favorite part of farming is getting the chance to earn a living running your own show. Trying to leave the land and your community and church, all those things, better off than when you came on board, and the opportunity to raise my kids in the country.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I have served on a lot of different boards over the years. I have always wondered why people wanted me to serve on them, but I have been on the school board, I am on the local bank board right now, and I have been on the farm credit bank board. It is just something that I feel like is our responsibility; to serve in our community and in our industry to try to make things better and to have a voice in how that goes. The director I replaced, he and I served on the bank board together and he encouraged me to run for the PCCA Board. I just feel like it is our responsibility to give back to the industry.

 

Billy Eggemeyer pcca board of directorsBilly Eggemeyer

Midkiff, Texas – District 9

Fifth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 8 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: The single most important benefit I get from PCCA
is one stop shopping. It is stress-free marketing of my crop; I don’t have to worry about it. They take care of all of my marketing. If you don’t want to be in the pool, you can sell it on The Seam.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: My favorite part of farming is the country life and being able to be my own boss.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: To me in our area, most of the generations that started farming there are my age or older. We have a bunch of young sons coming back now, and I like to serve on PCCA’s Board because I can bring everything back here that the coop means to me and my family and share it with these young guys. Hopefully, I can instill it in these young men that this is really the way to go with your life.

 

Frank DeStefano pcca board of directorsFrank DeStefano

Mumford, Texas – District 10

Fourth Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 9 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: My biggest benefit is the financial stability we have through the coop. It is really big in today’s environment to know that the money is there and that the money is good. That is one component of risk that is taken out, and I am sure I am going to get paid.

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: The thing I love about farming is that you do so many different things. It is not a continuous job that you do all the time. It involves marketing, bookkeeping, driving tractors and harvest equipment, and research. It is one occupation that you need to know a little bit of everything.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The benefit of serving is the representation of members in your district. I feel it is important that their voice be heard, and that is a responsibility you have because you are not just serving for yourself, you are serving for all of the members of your district.

 

Steve Bauer pcca board of directorsSteve Bauer

La Feria, Texas – District 11

Third Generation Farming Family

Served on the PCCA Board 25 Years

SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT FROM PCCA: My favorite part of PCCA is marketing my cotton and being in the pool. I have always been a coop man. They have treated us well, and I just feel like they were loyal to me so I am going to be loyal to my coop

FAVORITE PART OF FARMING: I enjoy watching my crops come up. I want to pass the farm on to my son, and hopefully my son will have children and keep the tradition of Bauer Farms going.

IMPORTANCE OF SERVING ON PCCA’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS: I represent District 11. It is the southernmost district in PCCA. Since we are so far away from Lubbock, I like to tell our grower- owners what is going on and what PCCA is doing for them. That includes us down here in District 11. My main responsibility is to tell the story of what PCCA is doing for us down here in South Texas.